Battery Storage in Derby
MCS-certified battery storage installation across Derby and the DE1 to DE24 postcodes, from our base at Gresley House in Doncaster, 50 miles away. We fit batteries alongside new solar panels, as a retrofit to panels you already have, or on their own to charge from the grid on a cheap overnight tariff, and we size them from Derby's own generation figures rather than a national average.
PVGIS puts a south-facing Derby roof at 980 kWh a year per kW of panels, within half a percent of Doncaster. A 4.85 kW array makes about 4,755 kWh a year here, 5.0% more than Chesterfield. What that means for a 5 or 10 kWh battery, how the connection is registered with National Grid Electricity Distribution, and what Derby City Council does and does not restrict are covered below.
How much a Derby roof can store
PVGIS 5.2 (the EU Joint Research Centre's model, SARAH2 radiation record, south-facing at 35°, 14% losses, fetched 15 October 2026) gives a 4.85 kW array in Derby these monthly totals:
| Month | Array output (4.85 kW) | Average per day |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 171 kWh | 5.5 kWh |
| Mar | 417 kWh | 13.5 kWh |
| May | 588 kWh | 19.0 kWh |
| Jun | 562 kWh | 18.7 kWh |
| Jul | 586 kWh | 18.9 kWh |
| Sep | 447 kWh | 14.9 kWh |
| Nov | 210 kWh | 7.0 kWh |
| Dec | 167 kWh | 5.4 kWh |
From May to August the array averages 18.4 kWh a day, so on a sunny day a 5 kWh battery fills from the roof with daytime usage still covered, and a 10 kWh unit fills on the longer days. From November to January the average drops to 6.0 kWh a day, most of it used as it is generated; a battery that is meant to work in winter needs a time-of-use tariff to charge overnight.
The full twelve months, with what they mean for a 5 kWh and a 10 kWh battery, are in Derby solar output month by month.
Registering the battery with National Grid Electricity Distribution
National Grid Electricity Distribution (the East Midlands network) is the operator for Derby, so the battery is registered with it. The threshold is the combined inverter rating at the house, solar inverter included: up to 3.68 kW per phase is notified under G98 once the system is installed; anything above that, which a 5 kW hybrid inverter on a single-phase supply usually is, needs a G99 application approved before switch-on. We handle the application either way and it is itemised on the quote.
Batteries on their own, and charging from the grid
Not every Derby home has a roof worth panelling, and a standalone battery is still a sensible purchase on a time-of-use tariff: it charges in the cheap overnight hours and runs the house through the 4pm to 7pm peak. HMRC's VAT Notice 708/6 zero-rates a home battery, standalone included, until 31 March 2027. The arithmetic is the rate gap times the kilowatt-hours shifted, so the tariff matters as much as the battery.
If you also have panels, do not add grid-charging savings on top of solar savings for the same days: a battery filled from the grid overnight is already full when the morning's solar surplus arrives. Our battery storage page sets out the models we fit and their usable capacities.
Choosing a battery in Derby
The roof is rarely what limits a Derby battery; the evening is. How much electricity the house uses between the panels switching off and bedtime decides whether 5 kWh or 10 kWh pays, and a smart meter's half-hourly data answers it in a week. Derby has approximately 111,000 households; the town averages about 1,380 hours of sunshine a year. If you are adding a battery to panels you already have, count the existing solar inverter towards the G98 limit above.
Panels and battery together are priced on our solar panels in Derby page; the battery models are on battery storage: how it works.
Renting, planning and Derby City Council
Planning is not usually a question for a battery in Derby: the unit sits indoors or in a garage and is covered by Building Regulations rather than a planning application. Derby City Council is the authority if a listed building or an external position is involved. Tenants need the landlord's written agreement first.
Derby battery storage questions
Who do I register a Derby battery with?
National Grid Electricity Distribution (the East Midlands network) is the operator for Derby, so the battery is registered with it. Up to 3.68 kW of total inverter capacity per phase is a G98 notification after the install; above that it is a G99 application approved beforehand. We submit it.
Can I have a battery fitted without solar panels in Derby?
Yes. A standalone battery charges from the grid when electricity is cheap and discharges in the evening peak, on a time-of-use tariff open to battery-only homes. HMRC's VAT Notice 708/6 zero-rates a battery supplied and installed in a home until 31 March 2027, including a standalone battery that stores grid electricity.
Will a battery fill from my Derby roof in winter?
Rarely from the roof alone. PVGIS gives a 4.85 kW array here about 6.0 kWh a day across November to January against 18.4 kWh a day in May to August; in winter the house uses most of what is generated as it arrives, so a battery that is to work in winter charges overnight on a time-of-use tariff.
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